A major crash brought northbound traffic to a crawl on IH-45 North at State Highway 249 and Mount Houston Road at 1:06 PM Friday, February 20, 2026. The incident blocked multiple lanes during the height of afternoon commute time, creating significant backups along one of Houston's busiest north-south corridors.
The collision occurred during peak travel hours when thousands of drivers head north toward The Woodlands, Conroe, and beyond. Commuters heading out of downtown Houston should expect delays extending back several miles toward the 610 Loop. Drivers looking to bypass the backup have limited options but can consider using either the Hardy Toll Road or Westfield Toll Road to the east, though those routes will likely see increased volume. Veterans Memorial Drive provides another alternative for those willing to navigate surface streets, though it will be considerably slower than the interstate.
This stretch of IH-45 North has long been a bottleneck during afternoon peaks, particularly where it intersects with SH 249. The area serves as a critical junction for traffic splitting between those heading to North Houston, The Woodlands, and points northeast toward Conroe. Mount Houston Road feeds substantial commercial and residential traffic into the interchange, making this one of the region's most congested merge points on any given weekday.
TranStar reported the crash blocking the northbound direction at the SH 249 merge. Tow trucks worked to clear the roadway, though full clearance typically takes time given the major severity designation. Cleanup crews need to remove debris and assess any lane damage before traffic can return to normal flow. Given the time of day and location, expect delays to persist through the evening commute period as residual congestion works through the corridor.
Heavy backups should gradually subside as the afternoon transitions into evening, but northbound I-45 drivers in this area should plan for significantly longer travel times through at least 5 PM.
The month leading up to this incident brought 8 crashes to this location.
27 new incidents have been logged at this location after this crash. Among the follow-on crashes, 26 were major.
The location has logged crashes at a higher rate after this one.
A short window saw several crashes at the location.
Taken together, the counts place this stretch in the upper tier for crashes locally.
Data updated as of May 22, 2026.
IH-45 North Northbound at SH 249/ Mount Houston Rd
Harris County, Texas
This report was produced by LTA's editor-designed production system under the executive editorial direction of Dennis R. Mundy, Executive Editor. The system combines our proprietary data pipeline with AI-assisted drafting to deliver verified incident coverage to LTA's editorial standards.